A tour around Wellington with Suzanne Aubert

On the evening of 5th January, 1899, Mother Aubert and her three Sisters arrived at the Te Aro Railway Station from Wanganui. They walked up to Buckle Street where they had rented a house at No. 22. It has since been pulled down, but the brick building, used as the Creche and built in 1916 is still standing. St. Joseph’s Church used to be on the corner of Buckle and Tory Streets, under the shadow of St. Patrick’s College, which in those days was a boarding school. The Sisters looked after the sick boys.

Tory Street, Haining Street, Taranaki Street, Cuba Street, Willis Street, Courtenay Place were all familiar places where Mother and her Sisters would have wheeled their three-wheeled “pram”, specially made for her by Mr. Edwin Arnold, whose house at the corner of Kensington and Abel Smith Streets still stands.

Visit St. Mary of the Angels in the City, where Mother often spent time. Up behind it is Flagstaff Hill. This is where she took her Sisters one New Year’s Day for an outing.

The Catholic Cemetery in Mount Street was another favourite place to visit.

There would have been many places where Mother went in the Thorndon area.

Mother used to visit the Lynch family whom she had met on the West Coast in 1889. They lived in Ferndale House in Molesworth Street, next door to the Premier, Mr. Richard Seddon. His daughter Elizabeth became a close friend of Mother Aubert.

Opposite the main gates of Parliament in Molesworth Street, was Mr. Brodie’s boot-maker’s shop. Here is where Mother had the use of a shed at the back of their dwelling, where she stored and mixed her remedies.

Government House was also in this area, situated where the Beehive now stands. Mother used to visit Lady Plunket. Visit also the Basilica: it has some features from the first St. Joseph’s Church in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. St. Joseph’s Church used to be beside the first Home of Compassion in Buckle Street. The Basilica was where Bishop Redwood officiated at the baptism of a baby boy in 1898, whose mother was going to drown herself and her child at Oriental Bay before Mother arranged to take the child into care at Jerusalem.

Mother Aubert and the Sisters also spent a lot of time traveling to and from the City in the trams. These have now been replaced by a bus service, so catch No. 1 bus to Island Bay. On the corner of Dee Street, where new town houses are being built, there used to be a Chinese market garden.

As you come up the driveway, the property on the left used to be the school grounds. Just above the school there used to be a vegetable garden running down a deep gully to the cowbail. In the 1960s the whole area was leveled out with fill, and a swimming pool was erected for the use of the children.

The original Home built in 1906-7 was demolished in 1987 and replaced by the present complex. Mother Aubert is buried in a little enclosure beside the Child Care Centre which is on the hill overlooking the main complex. It is a quiet space to sit and reflect. Up beyond on the hill, the reservoir was erected in the early days before the main water service reached as far as Island Bay.

Finally, a visit to the Chapel ends the Pilgrimage. A leaflet is available there describing it. Also available at the Sisters of Compassion Archives is a detailed Pilgrimage of Wellington, and other places where Suzanne Aubert was well-known.